By Caitlin Rubsamen, Sports Editor
Every National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school has the opportunity to run a Student Athlete Advisory Committee, or SAAC. At Gettysburg, the last time the student athletes had a formal committee on campus was in 2018, and at that time, it was called SAIL, Student Athletes in Leadership.
Maya Viscardi-Carelse ’27 plays field hockey. (Photo Courtesy of Maya Viscardi-Carelse)
Junior field hockey member Maya Viscardi-Carelse ’27 found out what SAAC was last spring when talking to Gettysburg Athletics’ Strength and Conditioning Coach Reggie Overton.
“One day, I was talking to Reggie about events or resources I wished we had as athletes on campus. He asked me why I don’t just tell our SAAC, to which I said, ‘What is SAAC?’” said Viscardi-Carelse. “After I did my research and I learned what SAAC accomplished at other colleges, I knew I wanted that for our student-athletes at Gettysburg College.”
Viscardi-Carelse worked with Reggie Overton to re-establish Gettysburg College’s SAAC, with Viscardi-Carelse serving as the organization’s president and chair and Overton serving as the faculty advisor.
According to Viscardi-Carelse, SAAC’s core responsibility is to represent, advocate for, and enhance the student-athlete experience while serving as the official bridge between athletes and institutional leadership.
At Gettysburg, SAAC is composed of highly motivated NCAA-sanctioned athletes who have a passion for leadership and motivation to improve the student-athlete experience.
“We operate with a chair, vice-chair, and executive board. On the executive board, there is an event coordinator, social media coordinator, treasurer, and secretary,” said Viscardi-Carelse. “In the next academic year, SAAC will be composed of the executive board as well as multiple subcommittees which every team will have a representative a part of.”
Outside of Viscardi-Carelse, Gettysburg’s current SAAC executive team is Abbie Gold ’26 (softball), Emma Ward ’26 (tennis), Eleanor Ragan ’28 (field hockey), Colleen Ragan ’28 (field hockey), Ray Zamloot ’27 (treasurer), and Ava O’Neil ’28 (secretary).
At Gettysburg, SAAC is designed as a platform in which student-athletes have a voice to influence policy, protect welfare, and enhance their overall college experience with the overarching goal of providing student-athletes the opportunity to enact change within.
“It is an organization built upon uplifting each other and working together to make sure our voices are heard from an institutional to national level,” asserted Viscardi-Carelse. “It also helps streamlining information for our student athletes to the administration. It unifies all our teams under a shared identity and strengthens campus presence and athlete visibility.”
Food Baskets donated from SAAC to SCAAP for Adams County families in need during the holidays. (Photo Courtesy of SAAC)
In the 2025-2026 school year, Gettysburg SAAC has already organized several events on campus, including partnering with Men’s Soccer to create a campus-wide event to increase attendance at their conference game and having every team collect food donations for those in need in Adams County through South Central Community Action Programs (SCAAP) to create four full baskets at the holidays.
This spring, SAAC will be partnering with the Athletics Department to adjust the senior athlete recognition ceremony to the first annual all student-athlete awards ceremony, which will be called “The Gettys.”
In the future, Viscardi-Carelse hopes to build off of this award ceremony and build lasting traditions within Gettysburg Athletics, hoping that the full importance of SAAC is understood across campus.
“I want student-athletes to genuinely want to be part of SAAC because they see its impact on their experience,” said Viscardi-Carlese
Outside of The Gettys, Gettysburg SAAC is planning to launch a Division III week competition this spring. The committee also has several interactive ideas for next year.
“We hope to have ‘The Orange & Blue Games’, which are a year-round competitions between all NCAA-sanctioned sports teams. The way to earn points will be through attending Bullet Pride games, D3 week, social media challenges, community service, and alumni outreach,” said Viscardi-Carelse.
Ultimately, Gettysburg SAAC hopes to better Gettysburg student-athletes and the community, as well as establish SAAC as an organization with productive subcommittees that all work together as one effortlessly.
This article originally appeared on pages 12-13 of the March 2026 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
